Time added to clock tower repairs

MEDINA — Unexpected repairs will delay the completion and run up the cost of the clock tower renovation, officials said.

At Monday’s meeting of the Medina County Board of Commissioners, county Administrator Chris Jakab said contractors found rot that has weakened the interior framing that supports the tin top and clock faces of the tower.

Damage to the interior framing of the upper sections of the clock tower have delayed the project’s final phase and could cost another $5,000 to $15,000. (PHOTO PROVIDED)

Jakab said the unexpected fixes will cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000.

He said 85 percent of the interior framing will need to be replaced before the rest of the project can proceed.

The clock tower is in the third and final phase of a multiyear $2.3 million project that began in 2011.

The repairs have been approved as a change order to the county’s contract with Coon Restoration and Sealants Inc. of Louisville in Stark County.

Part of the original contract calls for the removal of deteriorated tin facing, weather sealing the surrounding structure then replacing it with stainless steel.

The damage was found when workers began peeling away the tin facing around the clock.

County maintenance superintendent Tom Maupin said the damage is from water that leaked in through narrow gaps that have formed with wear over time.
The original tin is at least 100 years old, he said.

“As old as that turn coat seal is, it eventually started to deteriorate and then it gets holes in it, and the water gets in there and gets to the wood structure and rots it,” Maupin said.

The damage is mostly in the framing under the cornices — the boxes that stick out under the clock face and the louvered section below to divert water to the gutters.

The rest of the rot is in the wood supports for the tin exterior around the clock faces.

Maupin said the contractor has not said how long the additional repairs will take, but they have not asked for an extension to the contract yet.

Jakab told the Gazette last week that the project is expected to be finished by the end of November. Maupin said it could done by Thanksgiving.